complex1 adjectivecomplex2 noun
complexcom‧plex1 /ˈkɒmpleks $ ˌkɑːmˈpleks◂/ ●●○ W2 AWL adjective 
WORD ORIGINcomplex1
Origin:
1600-1700 Latin complexus, past participle of complecti ‘to include (many different things)’, from com- ( ➔ COM-) + plectere ( ➔ PLEXUS)EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
- a complex mathematical formula
- a complex personality
- Few people understand the complex issues of environmental science.
- The chemical processes involved in the experiment are extremely complex.
- The seminar focuses on the complex relationship between government, the military, and the media.
- There is a complex network of roads connecting the two cities.
- Alcohol is actually much more complex.
- And as I mentioned earlier, the social laws are more complex and less certain than the natural ones.
- During the past decade fundraisers' search for new donors has been increasingly complex and expensive.
- It is for building more and more complex bodies.
- Of course this is not necessarily the case in a more complex setting such as memory for driving situations.
- So the simplest explanation is the one that can include the whole range of complex elements within one integral and harmonious scheme.
- The issues here are complex and evolving.
- Yet not only was the urban population rapidly increasing, it was becoming ever more complex and articulate.
THESAURUS
consisting of a lot of different parts or details and therefore difficult to understand: · The rules of the game seemed very complicated.· I didn’t realize programming the VCR would be so complicated.· The brain is like a very powerful, very complicated computer.· a complicated issue
a complex process, relationship etc is difficult to understand because it has a lot of parts that are all connected in different ways: · The chemical processes involved are extremely complex.· the complex relationship between government and the media
having a lot of parts or details and very carefully planned, but often more complicated than is necessary: · Mike had worked out an elaborate system for categorizing his collection of DVDs.· The plan to kidnap her had become even more elaborate.· Sociologists have been coming up with increasingly elaborate theories to explain unsafe sexual practices.
very long and complicated – use this especially about something that you think should be made simpler: · The system for choosing candidates is very involved, and I won’t go into it here.· Adopting a child can be a long involved process.
too complicated and difficult to understand – used especially about someone’s language or arguments, or about a system: · convoluted sentences· Procedures for government funding have become more convoluted.· James’s books are full of long paragraphs and convoluted sentences, which many people do not find appealing.
having a lot of small parts or details – used especially about something that is cleverly designed or made: · Lasers are used to cut intricate designs in the metal.· The farmers use an intricate system of drainage canals.· the intricate workings of a watch· intricate patterns of coloured marble
Longman Language Activatorhaving a lot of different parts and difficult to understand consisting of a lot of different parts or details and therefore difficult to understand: · I didn't realize programming the VCR would be so complicated.· The brain is like a very powerful, very complicated computer.· the complicated problem of bringing peace to the Middle East
a complex process or system is difficult to understand because it has a lot of parts that are all connected in different ways: · The chemical processes involved in the experiment are extremely complex.· The seminar focuses on the complex relationship between government, the military, and the media.
having a lot of small parts or details - use this especially about something that is cleverly designed or made: · Lasers are used to cut intricate designs in wood.· The farmers use an intricate system of drainage canals.· the intricate workings of a watch· intricate patterns of coloured marble
having a lot of parts or details and very carefully planned, but often more complicated than is necessary: · Mike had worked out an elaborate system for categorizing his collection of CDs.· Sociologists have been coming up with increasingly elaborate theories to explain unsafe sexual practices.
very long and complicated - use this about a system, description, or explanation that you think should be made simpler: · The system for choosing candidates is very involved, and I won't go into it here.· Adopting a child can be a long involved process.
much too long and complicated, and therefore confusing and annoying: · The book begins with a long, tortuous introduction.· At last, an end to the tortuous negotiations was in sight.
too complicated and difficult to understand - use this especially about someone's language or arguments, or about a system: · He always uses a lot of convoluted arguments to support his theories, but no one's ever impressed.· James's books are full of long paragraphs and convoluted sentences, which many people do not find appealing.
WORD SETSabbr., abbreviate, verbabbreviation, nounabstract noun, nounaccusative, nounactive, adjectiveadj., adjective, nounadv., adverb, nounadverbial, adjectiveaffix, nounantecedent, nounapposition, nounarticle, nounaspect, nounattributive, adjectiveaux., auxiliary, nounauxiliary verb, nouncase, nouncausal, adjectiveclause, nouncollective noun, nouncommon noun, nouncomparative, adjectivecomparison, nouncomplement, nouncomplex, adjectivecompound, nounconcord, nounconcrete noun, nounconditional, adjectiveconditional, nounconj., conjugate, verbconjugation, nounconjunction, nounconnective, nounconstruction, nouncontinuous, adjectivecontraction, nouncoordinate, adjectivecoordinating conjunction, nouncopula, nouncountable, adjectivecount noun, noundative, noundeclension, noundefinite article, noundemonstrative, adjectivedemonstrative pronoun, noundependent clause, noundeterminer, noundirect discourse, noundirect object, noundirect speech, noundisjunctive, adjectiveditransitive, adjectivedouble negative, noun-ed, suffixending, noun-est, suffix-eth, suffixfeminine, adjectivefinite, adjectiveform, nounfunction word, nounfuture, adjectivegender, noungenitive, noungerund, noungradable, adjectivegrammar, noungrammarian, noungrammatical, adjectivehistoric present, nounhomonym, nounhomophone, nounimperative, adjectiveimperative, nounimpersonal, adjectiveindefinite article, nounindependent clause, nounindicative, nounindicative, adjectiveindirect discourse, nounindirect object, nounindirect speech, nouninfinitive, nouninflect, verbinflected, adjectiveinflection, noun-ing, suffixintensifier, nouninterjection, nouninterrogative, adjectiveinterrogative, nounintransitive, adjectivelinking verb, nounmain clause, nounmasculine, adjectivemodal, nounmodal auxiliary, nounmodal verb, nounmodifier, nounmodify, verbmood, nounn., neuter, adjectivenominal, adjectivenominative, nounnon-finite, adjectivenon-restrictive, adjectivenoun, nounnumber, nounobject, nounparse, verbparticipial, adjectiveparticiple, nounparticle, nounpartitive, nounpart of speech, nounpassive, adjectivepassivize, verbpast, adjectivepast participle, nounpast perfect, nounperfect participle, nounperiphrasis, nounpersonal pronoun, nounphrasal verb, nounphrase, nounpl., plural, nounplural, adjectiveplurality, nounpossessive, adjectivepossessive, nounpredeterminer, nounpredicate, nounpredicative, adjectiveprefix, nounprefix, verbprep., preposition, nounprepositional phrase, nounpres., present participle, nounprogressive, adjectivepronominal, adjectivepronoun, nounproper noun, nounpunctuate, verbpunctuation, nounqualifier, nounquantifier, nounquestion tag, nounreflexive, adjectiveregular, adjectiverelative clause, nounrelative pronoun, nounreported speech, nounrestrictive clause, nounroot, nounrule, nounrun-on sentence, nounsecond person, nounsemicolon, nounsentence, nounsentence adverb, nounsingular, adjectivesolecism, nounsplit infinitive, nounstative, adjectivestem, nounsubject, nounsubjective, adjectivesubjunctive, nounsubordinate clause, nounsubstantive, nounsuffix, nounsuperlative, adjectivesyntactic, adjectivesyntax, nountag, nountense, nountransitive, adjectiveuncountable, adjectivev., variant, nounverb, nounverbal, adjectivevocative, noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE ENTRY
a complex system of highways Photosynthesis is a highly complex process.COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
a complex system of highways Photosynthesis is a highly complex process. (=a group of buildings containing apartments)
· Computers can be used to handle complex calculations.
(=consisting of many different parts)· Human beings are extremely complex creatures.
· New factors are beginning to affect what is an already complex equation.
(=when you cannot stop feeling guilty, although it is unnecessary)· Some of the survivors developed a guilt complex. Why had they lived when others had died?
· He was able to grasp complex issues quickly.
(=a place where you can play sports etc)· The local leisure centre has a swimming pool and a sauna.
· Getting a visa can be a complex process.
(=a group of buildings, or a large building with many parts)· Club Hotel is part of a resort complex offering a range of facilities.
(=very complicated)· Immigration is a complex subject.
· The Australian health care system is extremely complex.
COLLOCATIONS FROM THE CORPUSADVERB· Most of the difficulty stems from the fact that an eruption is an extremely complex phenomenon.· But on Macintosh it becomes extremely complex.· Technicality Libel law has been allowed to become extremely complex.· A tester can have no confidence that unexamined values in extremely complex systems will perform continuously with examined values.· A simple five-figure number might conceal extremely complex chemistry.· Any mind capable of designing such an intricately structured universe as this would have to be extremely complex.· The process of sense selection is, of course, extremely complex, with many interacting factors.· From what we have said so far, you will conclude correctly that the task of the news director is extremely complex.
· However, most of these methods paid insufficient attention to the highly complex nature of landscape values, while overemphasizing scenic attractiveness.· But the components for Worldwide Plaza were already highly complex when they arrived on site.· Some of the problems are highly complex and unique in that lives are at stake depending on their successful resolution.· The Aborigines have a highly complex civilization, one that has existed for 60, 000 years.· Technology transfer is highly complex and often misunderstood.· Rather, it reflects the need for different conceptualizations to cover the different dimensions of a highly complex phenomenon.· Yet beer - good beer - is a highly complex product and one that arguably needs greater skill to produce than wine.· The most difficult phase was the analysis of cognitive processes in fault-finding in such a highly complex process plant.
· Second, the information technology market is becoming increasingly complex.· Subsequent period-doubling bifurcations appear as r is increased, resulting in increasingly complex periodic solutions.· The adventure will become increasingly complex, deadly and demanding as it progresses.· Very enjoyable when young, but increasingly complex with bottle age.· During the past decade fundraisers' search for new donors has been increasingly complex and expensive.· With Gibbons to guide me, I examine them one by one, and my salads grow increasingly complex.· Even the General Staff is but one actor in an increasingly complex policy process.· But it was the omnipresent manufacturer's logo woven into increasingly complex designs that really offended the fashion police.
NOUN· Certain types or parts of complex carbohydrates are indigestible: they form the fibre which adds bulk to food.· Potatoes are a rich source of fat-free complex carbohydrates.· Pasta contains complex carbohydrates so takes time to be digested.· Per serving: 416 calories, 3 grams saturated fat, 9 grams polyunsaturated fat, 24 grams complex carbohydrates.· Despite its limitations, the breath H 2 test is the only acceptable non-invasive method to estimate complex carbohydrate malabsorption in humans.· Per serving: 344 calories, 7 g saturated fat, 2 g polyunsaturated fat, 30 g complex carbohydrates.· Hence complex carbohydrates are better for bodybuilders and athletes.· In truth, these additives are harmless complex carbohydrates added in small portions to improve texture.
· It is important however to clarify some of the points made in relation to this often complex issue.· Television generally simplifies complex issues by using specific and dramatic examples to explain a topic.· The results of this investigation should help to clarify some of the complex issues involved in the debate on gender and schooling.· But the Whitewater affair is serious stuff although hardly anyone understands the complex issues involved.· There are a number of complex issues bound up with this particular matter, ontological and epistemological, practical as well as theoretical.· Peter was one of those rare souls who seemed to have an instant understanding of the most complex issues.· That definition, which is taken from Box's study, is rather long-winded, but corporate crime is a complex issue.· Reyes Heroles is well-respected for his ability to quickly grasp complex issues.
· Remember that elsewhere our formalism contains complex numbers.· We shall need complex numbers later.· This is worth unravelling, even at the expense of a brief excursion into the mathematical realm of complex numbers.· A key ingredient of this proof was to represent the complex numbers geometrically, and then to use a topological argument.· Actually, Gauss was not really the first to use a geometrical description of complex numbers.· Ten complex numbers specify the state of the particle.· We shall be seeing that the complex numbers that we must use at the quantum level are closely related to classical probabilities.· The Argand plane simply provides us with a way of organizing our family of complex numbers into a geometrically useful picture.
· It might apply to Hopkins' architecture, too, which has similarly evolved into richer and more complex patterns.· All this makes a complex pattern, but complex in therapy only if one does not know the source of aberration.· But Shakespeare is capable of more complex patterns.· The black pipes interlocked in complex patterns from the low ceiling above mountains of mats.· Bright colours and complex patterns help to make this possible.· Political cultures to refer to those in which there are significant proportions of both the simpler and more complex patterns of orientations.· What you get from it is a graph showing a complex pattern of forces.· The evidence, however, reveals a much more complex pattern.
· Alas, it was not nearly so simple, and many more complex problems remained to be solved.· The three ravening bolts of fury launching themselves at him now, presented an entirely more complex problem.· Only 6 percent could consistently solve relatively complex problems involving geometric relationships, algebra, or functions.· We must beware of hysterical solutions to complex problems urged by people whose real motive is often hatred of industry and capitalism.· It is impossible to take a complex problem and rationally unravel the mess into logical interacting pieces.· There is no simple solution to this complex problem.· The Web community of developers and users is tackling these complex problems.
· This has turned out to be a protracted, complex process, as reoccupation had not been finalised by July 2000.· Piot said the commitment to very low drug prices is only one step in a complex process.· It shows how a complex process can be distilled into a simple framework, generating documentation that can be easily audited.· But that was often a complex process, necessitating a lawyer and a lot of time.· This is a complex process, requiring 15-20 separate genes.· Perhaps in the future we may come to better understand more complex processes, such as memory and learning.· This is not a point which arises because the diagram oversimplifies a complex process.· It can therefore be a valuable aid to the better understanding and management of what is inevitably a very complex process.
· Beatrice's column of 11 February 1915 gives fascinating clues to their complex relationship.· Hajdu sheds new, revelatory light on the complex relationship between Strayhorn and Ellington.· This project is intended to explore the complex relationship between geographical mobility and voting.· They permit clear expression and handling of sometimes complex relationships.· This can lead to unpredictable effects since genes operate in highly complex relationships which are barely understood.· The complex relationships among cabinet, legislature, and prime minister merit further detail.· In an earlier chapter we described a few of the complex relationships which exist between different species and different kingdoms of nature.· Co. as the enemy, the two computing giants have always had a more complex relationship than their sparring would indicate.
· We will be employing an eye-tracking technique to study reading of complex sentences.· While he used more complex sentences consistently, some of them seemed to come out of left field.· Credit will be given for the appropriate use of complex sentences, punctuation and vocabulary, and for grammatical accuracy.· So you should entertain the possibility of communicating more complex thoughts by building more complex sentences.
· He constructs a complex set of interrelationships between the different ethnic groups.· Less obvious is the fact that Table 7-6 implies a complex set of financial linkages which exist between nations.· This complex set of rules could produce the relation shown as Figure 3.28.· Local authorities probably face the most complex set of responsibilities.· The following three years saw a complex set of political manoeuvres, centred largely on the control of various cities of Aquitaine.· It is not a comprehensive overview of all aspects of a complex set of issues.· You are thrown into it by your personal sense of responsibility, combined with a complex set of external circumstances.· As we have seen in the preceding chapters, language development gives rise to a complex set of interrelated abilities.
· Some of the more complex structures may have had suspended timber floors.· This barrier is a complex structure that prevents many drugs and chemicals in the blood from entering the brain.· The House considered the complex structure point in D & F Estates.· But at the time that complex structure was established, few anticipated the gusher of money about to erupt.· Young baboons are reared in social units of complex structure.· The obvious conclusion is that the complex structures must be explained in terms of the conscious states they seem developed to produce.· The idea of a complex structure can be applied to equipment manufactured by different suppliers, e.g. central heating boilers.· It was at this time too that W. L. Bragg was beginning to unravel the complex structures of the crystalline silicates.
· Already it is difficult to predict what will happen when you plug two large and complex systems together.· They saw their first glimpse of the earth as a complex system with checks and balances, inputs and outputs.· In most complex systems the sources of variation are likely to be numerous.· A tester can have no confidence that unexamined values in extremely complex systems will perform continuously with examined values.· The idea is that large, complex systems are often made up of a single, simple shape repeated over and again.· Artificial complex systems will be deliberately infused with organic principles simply to keep them going.· Recent work on the silver coinage has revealed a complex system of which even Domesday contains little trace.· In part this is because it is an inherently more complex system.
WORD FAMILYnouncomplexityadjectivecomplex
1consisting of many different parts and often difficult to understand SYN complicated OPP simple: a complex system of highways Photosynthesis is a highly complex process. Peter seemed to have an instant understanding of the most complex issues. It was a very complex relationship between two complex people.► see thesaurus at complicated2 technical a complex word or sentence contains a main part and one or more other partscomplex1 adjectivecomplex2 noun
complexcom‧plex2 /ˈkɒmpleks $ ˈkɑːm-/ ●●○ AWL noun [countable] 1a group of buildings, or a large building with many parts, used for a particular purpose: The town has one of the best leisure complexes in the country. a three-story apartment complex2a complex of something formal a large number of things which are closely related: China was a complex of different societies.3an emotional problem in which someone is unnecessarily anxious about something or thinks too much about something: I used to have a complex about my looks. → inferiority complex, Oedipus complex, persecution complexCOLLOCATIONStypes of complexa leisure complex (=where you can play sports or relax)· The new leisure complex includes a swimming pool, a sauna and a gym.a shopping complex· Some old buildings were pulled down to make space for a new shopping complex.a sports complex· The sports complex also has six tennis courts.an entertainment complex (=with cinemas, restaurants and other places to go)· There are plans for an entertainment complex with cinemas and a bowling alley.a holiday complex (=one where people go for holidays)· The lively holiday complex has plenty of nightclubs, bars, and restaurants.a housing/residential complex (=for people to live in)· Architects designed the residential complexes near the beach.a retail/commercial complex (=for shops, businesses, or industries)· a ten-screen movie theater and retail complexan office/museum/hospital etc complex· a 120-acre office complex near Las Vegasan apartment complex American English· a luxury apartment complex on Fulton Street